She's MINE all MINE & for good this time!

[copout]

I'll try to make this as short & sweet as possible. She was born 1969, I was born 1975 & she was my fathers before I came along. Mom & dad split in 78 & most of my memories with dad after that were aboard her. We went everywhere possible in just about any condition mother nature could throw at us. Dad remarried "the other one" shortly after the split & they had 1 girl & 2 boys whom I love dearly. I have very few memories with them other than the every other weekend trips to see dad. I caught my 1st of nearly every species in south Florida with dad aboard her. Fast forward to 96, dad was nearing retirement from MDPD/ATF & got a bug to restore her. With minimal help from me & lots of help from my two younger brothers, he finished the restoration in 98. He reconfigured the transom, removed the I/O, put a sealed bracket on the back & dropped a 200hp on it. He added a second tank amongst many other upgrades, which will be discussed later. Shortly after the unveiling dad was diagnosed with leukemia & after many battles with chemo & remissions he passed 01/04/05. His wishes were to have his ashes spread from his boat after some minor but mandatory repairs were finished. Well she sat motionless in "the other one's" back yard for almost a year before I asked if I could bring her down to my house to get her fixed. To my surprise the answer was "come & get it" & you bet I did! I brought her down here & started getting quotes between $1500-$3000 for some gel coat issues caused by the trailer. I spoke to "the other one" on several occasions stating I wanted my name put on the title before I would lay out any money. Round & round we went, my siblings tried to convince her to put all of our names on it but she was convinced I was trying to steal it. After almost a year she was tired of the battle & drove down here to take her back, I was crushed! We'll she got the gel coat fixed, come to find out by Mike @ Wildfire, thank god! However after getting the gel coat repaired she returned to the yard & sat there. Two weeks ago, I asked my sister if she thought her mother would sell me the boat, her response was "maybe". 3 days later my phone rang & guess who? Sure enough she tells me she was just about to list the boat (without telling any of us) but would sell it to me first. I called my wife who said "Honey, I've just been laid off, our house is nearing short sale/foreclosure but that boat means the world to you!" Well I picked her up today & she's MINE all MINE!!! I will have many questions but I need to take it all in first. Thanks for your time.....